Musculoskeletal pain intensity runs the gamut from distracting to disabling. In as much as there exists a variety of traditional and non-traditional treatment practitioners, self-help is a powerful, increasingly necessary option.
In addition to traditional hot packs and ice packs, a variety of functionally specific therapeutic wraps, garments, pads, pillows, mattresses, etc. have been designed, patented, and commercialized. Heretofore known therapy articles tend to emphasize a specific aspect of therapy, e.g., heating, chilling, aroma, massage, pressure point, etc., and feature a variety of critical elements, e.g., high heat capacity fruits/seeds (e.g., flax seed), gels, knobbed rollers, balls, wheels, structured foam, e.g., egg crate, space age memory foam, etc., as well as combinations of one or more such features.
A particularly “busy” or crowded therapy area is that associated with head and neck pain. For example, a variety of cervical/occipital pillows or wraps, U.S. Pat. No. 6,024,762 (Gray), U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,771 (Burk, IV), U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,949 (Hathaway), U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,866 (Simmons et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 3,981,032 (Brooks), include rigidly joined balls substantially fixed in a structured cold pack; paired hemispherical projections adjacent a convex pillow portion; a structure adapted to receive one of several functionally diverse inserts; an insertable occipital cold pack; and, vibrating ridged surfaces in a heating pad, respectively.
In light of the current state of the art in self-help tension relief therapy, there remains a need to provide an article which can be repeatedly heated or chilled characterized by one or more pressure point stimulators having an unencumbered range of motion within an enclosure or the like for the article. It is perceived as being further advantageous to provide a general therapeutic article or device which may be readily engaged, and even affirmatively applied, to a variety of body portions for which therapy is sought.